Whilst the site is being prepared for the concrete slab, Ralph and the 5×4 team head down to discover how the Vic Ash hardwood is being cut and treated. Once site preparations are complete, it is time for the slab!!
For more video interviews head to our YouTube channel BarleyStore for the full Construction Diary Interviews playlist.
Archive for September, 2014
Interview with Ralph Alphonso – The Month of September 2014
Video Diary: Concrete Slab
Pilacon did the final preparations to the site for the concreting, and Grand Designs set up to film the pouring of the slab. Ralph had a chat to them about the eco-friendly concrete – or e-crete – we are using.
E-crete is a product offered by Aurora Construction Materials (ACM) that is environmentally-friendly and possibly ‘the greenest’ concrete used anywhere in Australia.
Replacing conventional cements with waste materials from industrial processes, E-Crete produces up-to 80% less carbon than conventional concrete. For more on e-crete and ACM, visit out Project Partners page.
ACM brought in the e-crete, and began to pour the slab. Within two hours the slab was poured, and the guys from Pilacon finished it off by early afternoon.
Head to our YouTube channel BarleyStore for the full 5×4 Hayes Lane Project playlist.
Video Diary: Boxing and Preparing for the Slab
Before the concrete arrived it was important to prepare the plumbing and boxing and make sure that everything was in the right place. The team from Atherton began to lay all the pipes and the Pilacon guys began to build the boxing for the slab. When the steel delivery arrived the mesh was cut to size and installed in preparation for the concrete. See the time-lapse video below, or head to our YouTube channel BarleyStore for the full 5×4 Hayes Lane Project playlist.
Connecting and prepping
First thing in the morning Stewart from Direct Energy came to connect the geothermal loop. The team from Pilacon, as well as the the plumbing guys from Atherton Plumbing arrived to connect the pipes and dig the required trenches in preparation for the boxing of the slab.
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- Digging for the slab
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- Geothermal pipes
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- Geothermal pipes
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- The digging is complete
Bored piles
At the bright and early time of 7am, the excavating and drilling of the holes for the bored piles began. Once we had nine holes, each at 3.5 meters deep, the piles – or cages – were dropped into the holes. The concreter then filled the holes around the cages, leaving us nine piles concreted in place, and a site ready for the boxing for the slab!
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- Measuring
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- Quicker than a shovel!
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- The cages
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- Dropping the cages into the holes
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- Ensuring correct positioning
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- Filled and secured with concrete
Meeting with Fishers Timber Preservation
Whilst on the topic of timber we met with Lew from Fisher Timber Preservation. We spoke about the different water-based pressure treatments for the hardwood, which treats hardwood to be similar to treated pine in terms of durability and weather proofing.
Read more on Fishers’s Timber Preservation at our Project Partners page, or check out their website.
Meeting with ASH (Australian Sustainable Hardwoods)
Whilst up in Drouin we met with Daniel Wright from our project partner ASH to discuss hardwood samples over lunch. We got a briefing on ASH in general, covering their sustainability measures and their process. We followed that up with a tour through the timber mill.
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- The impressive timbver mill
To read more about our partnership with ASH, please see their page in the list of our Project Partners, or their website at Australian Sustainable Hardwoods
Meeting with Timber and Truss
After a long drive up to Drouin, we met with Andrew and Paul from Drouin Timber and Truss about the floors, walls and windows for the 5×4 project. We were there to refine any variations to the prefabrication plans for the project, as we didn’t want pieces of the puzzle arriving on site that didn’t fit the rest of the building.
We ironed out any potential creases, discussed the installation process, and then wrapped it up with a tour of their warehouse.